Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-26

lived and died In the faith Of the Gospel
and Asassiz who, standing with his stu
dents among the hills, took of his ha
and said, "Young gentlemen, before ",
study these rocks let US pray for wisdom
to the God who made the rocks" To-day
the greatest doctors and lawyers o!
Brooklyn and New York, and OF all this
lsnd, and OF ell lands, revere the Christian
religion, and are not ashamed to say sc
before juries and legislatures and senates
All geology will yet bow before the Rock
of Ages. All,botany will yet worship the
Rose Of Sharon. ALI astronomy will ye,
recognize the Star of Bethlehem. Ard
physiology and anatomy will join hands
and say, We must by the help Of God &c,
the human race up
TO THE PERFECT NERVE,
and perfect muscle, and perfect brain,
and perfect form of that perfect child be-
fore whom nigh 1000 years ago Caspar,
and Belthasar, and Melchior pent their
tired knees in worship.
Behold also in that first Christmas night
that God hOnored the fields. Come in,
shepherd boys, to Bethlehem and see the
child. s'No," they say; 1--WE are not
dressed good enough to come in" eyes,
you are, come in" Sure enough, the
storms and the night dew, and the bram-
oles have made rough work with their
apparel, but Zone have q better right to
come in. They were the first to hear the
music OF that Christmas night. The first
OF Saw or's birth was
made to those men in the fields. There
were wiseacres that night in Bethlehem
and Jerusalem snoring in deep sleep, and
there were salsried officers of government
who, hearing OF it after ard, may have
thought that they ought to have had the
first news OF such great event,
some one dismountlng from
swift camel at their door and knocking
till at some sentinel's que stion, "Who
comes there ?" the great ones of the pal
ace might have been told of the celes-
tial arrival. No, the shepherds heard
the first two bars of the music, the first in
the major key and the last in the SUBJ
dued nlinor: Glory to God in the high
est, and on earth peace, goodwill to
men" All, yes, the fields were honored.
The old shepherds with plaid and crook
have for the most part vanished, but we
have grazing on our United States pas
ture fields and prairies about 45, 000, 600
all their keepers ought to
follow the shepherds of my text, and
all those who toll in fields, all wine
dressers, all orchardists, all husbandmen.
Not only that Christmas night, but oil up
and down the worlds history God has
bsen honoring tie fields. Nearly all the
Messiahs OF reform, and literature, and
and law, and benevolence
have
COME FROM THE FIELDS.
from the fields. Jefferson
from the fields. The Presidential mar
tyrs, Garfield snd Lincoln, from the
fields. Henry Cl.y from the fields.
Daniel Webster from the fields.
Martin Luther from the fields. Aud be-
fore this world is right the overlooking
p populations of our crowded cities will
nave 10 take to the fields. Instead Of ten
in rivalry as to who shall sell
that one apple, we want at least eight of
them to get out and raise epples. In
stead of ten merchants desiring to sell
that one bushel of wheat, we want at
least eight OF them 10 go out and raise
wheat. The world wants now more
hard hands, more bronzad cheeks, more
muscular arms. To the fields! God
shepherds by the midnight anthem, and
he will, while the world lasts, continue to
honor the fields. When the shepherds
crook WAS that famous night stood against
the wall Of the Beth chem kahn,
it was prophecy Of the time when
thresher's fail, and farmers plough, and
woodman's axe, and ox's yoke, and sheef
binders rake shall surrender to the God
who made the country as man made the
town.
Behold also, that on thst Christmas
night God honored motherhood. Two
angels on their wings might have brought
an Iofant SAVER to Bethlehem without
MarY's being there at all. When the viii
layers, on the morning Of December 26,
awoke, by divine arrangement and in
some unexplained way, the child Jesus
might have been found In some com, ort-
abe cradle Of the village. But no, no!
Motherhood for all tine was to be conse-
Grated, and one of the tenderest relations
was to be the maternal relation, and one
of the sweetest words "Mother." In all
ages God.
has HONORED GOOD MOTHERHOOD.
John Wesley had good mother, st
Bernard had q good mother, Samuel
Budget good mother, DoGdridge q
good mother, Walter Scott good
mother, Berj.min West a good mo her.
In great audience, most of whom Were
Christians, asked That ell those who had
been blessed of Christian mothers arise,
and almost the entire assembly stood up.
Don't you see how important it ia that al
motherhood be cansecrated? Why did
Titan, the Italian artist, when he
sketched the Madonna make it an Italian
face? Why did Rubens, the German art
ist, in his Madonna make it q German
facs? Why did Joshua Reynolds, the
Eoglish artist, in his Madonna, make 1t
81 English face2 Why did Murillo, the
Spanish artist, in his Madonna make it 9
Spanish fact? l never heard, but think
that they took their own mothers as the
type of Mary, the Mother Of Christ. Whs q
you hear some one in sermon or Grafton
speak in the abstract Of good, faithful.
honest mother, your eyes fill up with
tears while you say to yourself, that was
my mother. The first word 8 child ut
tiers is apt to be, "mother," and the old
man in his dying dream calls, smother
mother!" 1t matters not whether she
was brought no in the surroundings of 8
city, and in fluent home, and was dressed
appropriately with reference to the de.
msnds of modern life, or whether she
wore the old-time cap, and great round
spectacles and apron of her own make